Yesterday during Intel's Q2'06 earnings report, Intel CEO Paul Otellini revealed that Intel has moved up its launch schedule for quad-core processors to Q4 2006 instead of Q1 2007 as originally announced by Intel in roadmaps and public relations.

Otellini claimed "We notified customers that we're pulling in both a desktop and server of the first quad-core processors into the fourth quarter of this year from the first half of 2007." These two processors, dubbed Kentsfield and Clovertown, respectively, are essentially twin-die packages of Core 2 Duo.

In late May, Intel announced that the company will ship a 3.2GHz Core 2 Extreme processor followed by quad-core Kentsfield in Q1'07. Kentsfield has always been slated as an Extreme processor, meaning it will carry a larger price tag than the traditional Core 2 Duo series. Intel's quad-core server processor, dubbed Clovertown, is virtually identical to Kentsfield but will use the Socket 771 package instead of Socket 775.